Sochi 2014 Skeleton Test Events Raise Concerns Amongst Skeleton Teams, Managers

Sochi 2014 Games organizers “have narrowly avoided a boycott of the skeleton World Cup event by teams unhappy with the quality of the ice track at the Sanki Sliding Centre,” according to Nicole Jeffery of THE AUSTRALIAN. Team managers “threatened to withdraw their teams from the competition” after “two days of training were cancelled because the track was declared unfit for use.” Australian Team Manager Dale Chapman said that coaches and managers "were concerned for the safety" of their athletes for the Olympic test event on Saturday. Chapman said that the boycott threat was successful in "forcing the Sochi officials" to make repairs. Chapman said, “It took some phone calls to the Russian sports ministry, and that’s why we needed to take the extreme measure of threatening to cancel the event.” After overnight repairs, Chapman said the track was “much improved,” allowing training to resume Wednesday. He added, “They are working on getting it back to the standard required” (THE AUSTRALIAN, 2/14).